I'd like to put an exterior light fixture between my two garage doors. The spot where it "belongs" has a post made of six (!) sistered 2x4s in the wall (presumably supporting the headers for the garage doors) and I'm looking for a way to get a wire from a shallow box (set into the 3/4" wood siding) into the empty space next to the post. I could drill a hole on an angle, but it would have to penetrate at least two of the 2x4s, and I'm concerned that may compromise their strength too much.

1 Answer
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You should be fine if you keep the hole less than 1" dia. In a column like that you will not compromise the strength like drilling through a beam. I did the same thing between my 2-car and 1-car openings when adding a motion sensor.

This isn't the same as drilling through from one side to the other, though. Generally, when drilling through studs or joists, I believe the requirement is to stay in the center third; there's no way to do that here, as the exterior wall where the fixture would mount is the outside edge.
– TomGDec 22 '14 at 1:50

I understand what you are saying. I drilled a 3/4" hole horizontal hole through the sides of 2 studs and another much shorter hole to connect them right behind the shallow box set into my siding. I was able to feed 14/2 Romex through with no issues but I had a 12" wide sheer panel next to my column that you might not have. I guess it depends on what access you have on either side of that column and where you are feeding the Romex from.
– TurboToadDec 22 '14 at 14:50